Análisis de la evolución y las representaciones del trabajo en el cine social español

Abstract

This study examines the evolution of labor representations in Spanish social cinema from the Franco dictatorship to the present through a qualitative thematic analysis of 36 films released between 1951 and 2024. The main objective is to identify how cinema has portrayed the world of work in relation to the historical, political, and social context of each period. Using a grounded theory and historical-logical methodological approach, three major stages are identified: the Franco regime, the democratic transition, and the 21st century. The findings reveal seven key thematic axes: work as effort, livelihood, class marker, structuring life expectations, moral criterion, social awareness, and collective response. During Francoism, narratives emphasized sacrifice and home ownership as symbols of stability. In the transition period, political awareness, criticism of the productive system, and collective conflict became central. In the 21st century, critical awareness remains present, but narratives of labor mobilization largely disappear, while individual competitiveness and precarity intensify. Sentiment analysis shows that representations of work are predominantly negative across all periods, though historically nuanced. The study concludes that portrayals of work in Spanish social cinema have not followed a linear progression but have instead been shaped by broader structural and cultural transformations.